U.S. Sen. Bob Corker visits Oak Ridge

Darrell Richardson/The Oak Ridger

Tuesday

Feb 27, 2018 at 2:53 PM

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — Back in September, U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., announced he wouldn't seek re-election in 2018. More recently, however, there've been rumors that the two-term senator, who chairs the influential Senate Foreign Relations Committee, could be reconsidering retirement.

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — Back in September, U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., announced he wouldn’t seek re-election in 2018. More recently, however, there’ve been rumors that the two-term senator, who chairs the influential Senate Foreign Relations Committee, could be reconsidering retirement.

Speaking to Thursday’s noon meeting of the Rotary Club of Oak Ridge, the 65-year-old Corker was asked point blank if he was having second thoughts about retiring, to which the former Chattanooga mayor replied: “I don’t have any news to share.” But, while the senator may have dodged that single personal question, he certainly spoke out on a number of other issues ranging from gun legislation to the importance of Oak Ridge’s nuclear mission.

Before taking questions on Thursday, Corker first took the opportunity to praise U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and President Donald Trump’s National Security Adviser Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster (amid reports that the White House may be seeking to remove the decorated three-star from his administration post).

Corker next touched briefly on America’s foreign conflicts, particularly those in Turkey and North Korea. Regarding the latter, the U.S. senator spoke optimistically (as he often does), indicating there was a much-better opportunity to peacefully resolve this issue.

Domestically, Corker’s primary pre-Q&A focus centered on the country’s tax reform issue(s), as he stated at one point, “As we go [economically], so the world goes.”

Other issues touched on by the senator — prior to questions and answers from the Rotarians and their visitors — included:

• The Opioid Crisis and what Corker referred to as the “geometric” growth of opioid episodes;

• “Obviously,” he said, “the issue of shootings scares us all.” Corker said he spoke with Donald Trump on Thursday morning and the president “was still overwhelmed” with the sit-down meeting he had Wednesday with a grim fellowship of parents, teachers and students affected by school shootings over the past two decades in America. A strong supporter of gun rights, Trump has nonetheless indicated in recent days that he’s willing to consider ideas not in keeping with National Rifle Association orthodoxy, including age restrictions for buying assault-type weapons.

The president is facing growing calls for action on gun control after the mass shooting that took 17 lives at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in South Florida. On Tuesday, Trump directed the Justice Department to move to ban devices like the rapid-fire bump stocks used in last year’s Las Vegas massacre — admittedly a small sign of movement on the gun violence issue that has long tied Washington in knots.

With the issue of shootings in the United States “just continuing to increase,” Sen. Corker indicated that dealing with background checks more fully and “more fully dealing with the gaps” was something he’s hopeful that we as a country can better address.

While he would touch on the issue later during the subsequent audience’s Q&A, Corker also mentioned — before turning over the mic to others — the importance of Oak Ridge’s currently well-under way Uranium Processing Facility and the need to keep all the facilities at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Y-12 National Security Complex updated and current as they are so vital to our country’s “backbone.”

2nd Thoughts & More

Following the aforementioned first question from the even larger-than-usual Thursday crowd regarding Corker’s retirement (or unretirement), the visiting senator was then asked a series of questions from the audience regarding such topics as:

• Finding a qualified workforce to fill local job openings, to which the senator stated that “no doubt, companies are going to have to be innovative and be involved in the training process (of new hires)”;

• Infrastructure;

• Banking regulations; and

• Entitlements … to which Sen. Corker stated, in part, “We have got to make our entitlement programs sustainable. It all is OUR money,” he said. “People depend on Social Security; we have to find a way to make it solvent and we have to do the same with Medicare.

When asked by a member of the audience about the national deficit, Sen. Corker — an active member of both the Senate Banking Committee and the Budget Committee — stated, “I’m not very optimistic (about the deficit)” and referenced a column published in Thursday’s Wall Street Journal penned by John Cogan titled “Why America Is Going Broke.”

For his part, Sen. Corker stated during Thursday’s Rotary meeting: “There are a lot of tough choices and discussions that have got to take place. … I’m discouraged.” Regarding the deficit, the senator surmised, “There doesn’t seem to be the will nor the concern.”

On a (much?) more positive note, Sen. Corker stated during Thursday’s Oak Ridge gathering that the way people are working together in Washington is much better than he’s seen at any time — a point he’s made in the past despite what may be being portrayed by the national media and others.

“It’s amazing what’s happening to political reporting in Washington,” said the U.S. senator. “It’s almost like a reality show.”

Getting back around to the aforementioned “bump stock” ban that several, like the president, seem to be endorsing, and/or raising the age of buying a rifle from 18 years old to 21 when “you’re [legally] an adult at 18, so what do you do?”, Sen. Corker acknowledged that there seem to be plenty of tough legal roads ahead for America to navigate as it tries to resolve existing gun violence issues and concentrate more effort in the mental health area.

But, at the same time, despite the challenges, “for some reason, I think this time is different. I think some action is going to be taken.”

The final question posed to Corker was related to the Oak Ridge Reservation and U.S. Department of Energy missions. Regarding the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the senator stated, “It is truly a national treasure … indispensable especially at this very moment in time.

“Then,” he said, “there’s what’s happening at Y-12. I’m glad the uranium facility is being modernized and these people are making sure our nuclear assets are what they need to be.”

He said Oak Ridge is an area full of patriots who work to advance America’s national security as well as the country’s intellectual capital. …

“It’s not heralded enough,” U.S. Sen. Corker concluded during his Thursday visit. “My hat is off to you!”

Darrell Richardson can be contacted at (865) 220-5510

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